12/01/2023
The battle over the proposed Credit Card Competition Act may drag into next year, despite an initial goal of winning passage this year. Nonetheless, supporters and opponents remain locked in battle.
The bill, which aims to inject more competition into the industry by requiring that bank card issuers ensure at least one card network other than Visa or Mastercard is available to merchants processing payments, has bipartisan sponsors in the House and the Senate.
Still, efforts to attach it to some larger bill have been fruitless so far. It was sidelined this month as Congress members focused on passing a funding bill to avoid a shutdown of the federal government. That stopgap measure passed just before Congress recessed for the Thanksgiving Day holiday will tide U.S. funding over until next year, and negotiations over a longer-term funding solution are likely to take center stage now.
